Infrared heat has been widely adapted over forced air heat in the environment of a poultry house primarily because radiant heat more efficiently provides heat directly to the floor without the need to heat the entire air space enclosed by the walls and the ceiling of the poultry house. In the past, radiant heat has been provided in poultry houses utilizing propane or natural gas-fired heaters in: (a) a circular shape with a ceramic disc to create a small percentage of its input as infrared heat (commonly referred to as a “pancake brooder”); (b) a circular shaped perforated emitter (commonly referred to as a “radiant brooder”); (c) a rectangular shaped heater with a relatively open design (commonly referred to as a “ceramic brooder”), of the type manufactured by SBM International, which is positioned at an angle in order to direct heat angularly downwardly toward the floor; or (d) in the shape of a long tubular pipe (commonly referred to as a “tube heater”).
One disadvantage associated with these different types of radiant heaters is the production of heat patterns that create large hot areas and large first and second cold areas of the floor. Birds in a poultry house during the brood time perform best within a fifteen (15) degree temperature spread (“the comfort zone”) on the floor. The comfort zone is typically between approximately eighty-five and one hundred degrees (85°-100°) Fahrenheit. The hot areas are typically those areas above approximately one-hundred degrees (100°) Fahrenheit. The first cold areas are typically those areas between approximately eighty and eighty-five degrees (80°-85°) Fahrenheit. The second cold areas are typically those areas below approximately eighty degrees (80°) Fahrenheit. The greater percentage of infrared heat output that is put on the floor within the comfort zone, the more efficient the heater is.
The foregoing was discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,166,964, entitled “Heater For Use In An Agricultural House”, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. The heater described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,166,964 provided a heater for use in a poultry house that, as compared to the known prior art heaters at the time, reduced the hot and cold areas on the floor of the poultry house, and increased the size of the comfort zone on the floor of the poultry house.
Despite the benefits and improvements provided and achieved by the heater described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,166,964, the heater of the present invention provides even further benefits and improvements.